J.K. MUTHAMA (Observer for Kenya): I would like to start my contribution by congratulating you for continuing to give us your wise leadership in the deliberations of the Council. My delegation also wishes to congratulate the three Vice-Chairmen who have been elected to assist you in your difficult task.

Like many earlier speakers, we wish to congratulate the Director-General and the Secretariat for the excellent documentation we have before us. The keynote speech by the Director-General is something which should give the Council much inspiration and a sense of direction. I would like-particularly to mention the aspect which was emphasized by the Director-General, that is, that the problem faced by the food and agricultural sector, particularly in developing countries and in Africa in particular, is not a passing problem; it is not ephemeral or transient. It must be recognized as a problem which has arisen due to very fundamental circumstances related to infrastructure and the capacity to develop. It is clear that the drought has also made the position worse.

Another aspect emphasized by the Director-General was the priority that this Organization intended to give to Africa, particularly its practical support in helping Africa to be self-sufficient. The delegation of Kenya feels that this is very commendable work, but that it is work which should be accompanied by action-oriented programmes. I am glad to say that earlier speakers have shown by their comments that there is an increasing concern with increasing understanding of the problems involved and the need for the practical handling of them. All parties interested in solving these problems of food and agriculture must ask themselves whether these problems are really practical ones. Many of them are soluble. Many delegations indicated that solutions do exist, but that it is important to look at the necessary solutions with a long-term perspective.

Unfortunately, it appears that both donors and recipients in the international community seem to be more geared to reacting or responding to crises, and as we have seen, when the crisis comes, the help comes too late and usually in insufficient quantities. The Kenyan delegation feels that sufficient knowledge does exist and that sufficient analytical work has been done. We feel that probably the solution to the problem is being paralyzed by further analyses, and that we are paralyzing the problem rather than solving it by continuing our endless analyses.

The questions to which we should be addressing ourselves in reality are these: does a physical, technical base exist to improve agriculture and food to the required levels? Do the necessary financial and investment resources exist to achieve the required level of production? Does the necessary political will exist? Is the necessary priority given to solving these issues which are impending development? Are the multinational organizations of the United Nations properly oriented to address themselves to these problems? Are the donors committed to rid the world of the scourge of hunger giving the right level of resources at the right time? Or is it "too little, too late", as we have seen with the crisis in Africa?

Overall, the documentation provided by FAO and presented by Professor Nurul Islam indicated that investment in agriculture is inadequate, and that in fact there is declining support by the donors, particularly the multinational organizations such as IFAD, IBRD and UNDP. If we look closely, we find that the compounding of the problems of inadequate investment in agriculture with unfavourable balance of trade and decline in the prices of exported raw materials in real terms makes it impossible for developing countries to have a surplus in money or foreign exchange for investment in agriculture, and this will tend to make the position worse. The food crisis which has been exacerbated by drought has meant increased imports of food; this in turn has further eaten into the limited foreign exchange available, which again makes the question of investment in agriculture more difficult. We should not forget the serious macro-economic consequences of the problems with which agriculture has been faced. The problem relates to government revenues which has led to budget deficits, unemployment and debt servicing problems, all of which tend to make the position of agriculture and the movement towards self-sufficiency even more difficult.

It is unfortunate that overseas development assistance is also declining, and that developed countries have not found it necessary to increase the level of their contribution to ODA nearer to the 0.7 percent of GNP which was the target set by the United Nations system for the purposes of financial assistance. The problem of protectionism, as explained by earlier speakers - particularly the Chairman of the Group of 77 - is making it even more difficult for developing countries to get out of the vicious circle of under-development. There is the question of the deteriorating external environment; there is the question of lower prices of raw materials and trade barriers which impede the export of manufactured goods. All this adds up to reducing prospects for development and export; it leads to a diminished prospect of foreign exchange earnings and, of course, reduces the prospects of surplus cash for supporting development.

In conclusion, my delegation feels that there is need for self-examination, even self-criticism, by all the three parties which seem to be playing a part in the field of food and agriculture. On the side of the donors, my delegation feels that there is need for renewal of commitment and flexibility in aid granting so that developing countries can get rid of impediments to development, that they can have or develop programmes which donors can support and which would reach the root causes of underdevelopment such as infrastructure, manpower development, improving managerial capabilities, supporting recycled extensions, looking at the aspects and developing these aspects which will assure these countries of more reliable and sustainable production, for example, by developing irrigation systems.

The other partner in this field are the multilaterals, and my delegation feels that it is necessary for them to look at their mandates realistically and ask themselves, whether these mandates are still relevant to the problems, whether what was relevant 40 years ago is still relevant today and to come out openly and adopt approaches which are relevant and which do give developing countries or a recipient of aid, realistic support. Of course, different countries have got different constraints, and each approach has got to be particularly tailored to the needs of each particular country.

Now, to the recipients, there is no doubt that we have our own problems and that there are a lot of things that we have to do in order to create a correct climate for investment in agriculture and for improvement in food production and agriculture development in our country. There are aspects which deal with policy, commitment, development of infrastructure, communication, storage and developing marketing services, research services and above all, developing incentive prices which will encourage farmers to produce.

D. DE GASPAR (World Food Council): For the World Food Council, the reports prepared for the Eighty-sixth Session of the FAO Council are of great interest, in particular the two documents, the State of Food and Agriculture 1984 and Recent Developments in the United Nations System of Interest to FAO. Both documents merit careful attention by all concerned as the international community seeks resolution of global food problems. The first document, on the State of Food and Agriculture, is most welcome, as it represents a useful addition to the body of analysis which has sought to understand the changing nature of the world food problem since the 1974 World Food Conference. The FAO Secretariat is to be commended, in particular on its insightful review of the linkage between food and urbanization and migration.

As other analyses have suggested, this document places the food and hunger dimension in a broader context encompassing economic, social and environmental factors. Its conclusions suggest the continued precarious balance for many developing countries which are struggling to meet their food needs. This theme was central to World Food Council ministerial concern at its Tenth Session held this past June in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at which the World Food Council assessed the progress in the remaining problem areas for meeting the recommendations and objectives of the 1974 World Food Conference, as requested by the United Nations General Assembly. At that meeting, the World Food Council ministers recognized that the principal fear in 1974 of diminishing food supply globally, relative to population growth and hence rising food prices, had not been warranted. In fact, global food production has increased by some 3.2 percent annually, and even higher rates of growth were achieved by the densely populated countries which comprise four-fifths of the population of the developing world. Asia, in particular, with production increases of 3.4 percent annually has dramatically transformed its prospects for sustained higher levels of food production and development. This is a significant achievement which is due to priority investment in the application of scientific means to increase productivity and by the careful formulation and management of policies and price incentives which assist farmers. Yet, despite significant increases in aggregate food production and trade, chronic hunger and malnutrition remain a reality for hundreds of millions of people. Reaching the poor and destitute has proven to be a much more intractable problem than many imagined in 1974. Notwithstanding improved information on the geography of hunger and the various types and causes of malnutrition, there is still wide divergence of opinion on the short- and long-term way of helping the poor and the chronically hungry as well as on the policy conflicts and investment trade-offs that different approaches might imply. In general, however, the hungry are no longer seen as existing in isolation from their economic and social environment. Instead, it is now realized that the problems of hunger are closely linked to poverty and underemployment to land tenure systems and to the impact of changing technologies. The Addis meeting likewise attached major importance to the tragic and unrelentless dimensions of what has come to be termed the African food crisis.

Since the World Food Council first raised the alarm in 1980 about the deteriorating African food situation, the Council has called for greater donor/recipiei\t cooperation, increased external resources and improved trade opportunities as well as major policy changes by the African countries themselves. The present drought and famine situation has only compounded the difficulties of meeting the longterm policy and resources realignments. Therefore, despite many similarities in analysis between the World Food Council and that of the FAO Council document, there are certain areas that deserve further exploration and emphasis.

With regard to world cereal stocks, the World Food Council documents have placed considerable emphasis on the major policy problems surrounding the unmarketable cereal surpluses of the major food exporters

and the adverse effects of low international cereal prices on developing country food strategy and plans for the economies of developing countries exporters of grain. The World Food Council stressed the fact that low international cereal prices, not just high international prices, can mitigate developing country efforts to resolve their food and development problems. Secondly, with regard to food security arrangements, the World Food Council assessments stressed the potential resource conflicts in simultaneously meeting the food security needs of both consumers and producers and subgroups of them over both the long- and short-term. There are major policy conflicts and resource tradeoffs entailed in meeting the particular food security requirements of certain groups of citizens in any country. This point, in the World Food Council's view, has not yet received adequate attention heretofore in food security discussions.

With respect to food aid, the Council sought to highlight the use which programmed food aid could have for enhancing the national food strategy and food objectives of developing countries. Special attention has been devoted to focusing the application of food aid to ease the food price dilemma and the need to ensure adequate incentives to producers while simultaneously protecting low-income nutritionally vulnerable consumers. By the same regard, the 1982-83 decrease in multilateral concessional assistance for agriculture by 20 percent, as indicated yesterday by Professor Nurul Islam, suggests the continued and pressing relevance of the World Food Council Executive Director's proposal for a $1 billion food policy support programme over five years to further food policy adjustments in developing countries.

In reviewing the second document, Recent Developments in the United Nations System of Interest to FAO, the World Food Council is pleased to see the conclusions and recommendations of its tenth Session held in Addis Ababa annexed to this document. It should be nonetheless noted the particular interpretation found in paragraph 44 of the document regarding multilateral interagency coordination. The Council stressed that full-level coordination among assistance agencies was at the heart of the problem, and that this fundamental issue was complicated by the different objectives and policy orientations of the non-food agencies, including the financial institutions.

In looking to the future, the World Food Council ministers recognized that major hurdles must still be confronted by the international community in meeting the still valid objectives of the 1974 Conference. These tasks include sustained efforts by the developing countries in the implementation of their national food strategies designed to increase food production and improve access to food by low-income groups. More comprehensive policies and programmes are required which integrate hunger-reducing measures into the process of economic and social development. Use of food aid of developed countries producers to achieve long-term food self-reliance even as emergency food needs are being met, adjustment of developed countries' policies to reduce trade protectionism and the instability of financial and commodity markets affecting developing countries' objectives and ensuring adequate and reliable food imports, increased development assistance for the least-developed countries, particularly in Africa, and improved coordination and management of international assistance efforts. It was in these terms that the World Food Council called upon the international community to review its commitment to eradicate hunger and malnutrition by the end of the century. The ministers affirmed that hunger can no longer be blamed solely on humankind's inability to produce enough food. Hunger today is largely a man-made phenomenon Human error or neglect creates it, human complacency perpetuates it, and human resolve can eradicate it.

N. ISLAM (Assistant Director-General, Economic and Social Policy Department): We are very grateful for the various comments and suggestions made by the distinguished delegates which will enable us to improve and expand the analyses and the statistical information in the expanded version of the State of Food and Agriculture which will be published later. I will confine my replies to a number of questions, not necessarily covering all the phases of the important questions raised in the course of the debate.

One question a number of delegates have referred to related to the possible inconsistency between paragraph 14 and paragraph 15 of the main document. Paragraph 14 relates to an analysis of the impact of the growth of industrial economies on the exports and growth in developing countries. The example given there is an hypothetical example dealing with the impact of a certain percentage change in the industrial countries' growth on the developing countries. This analysis is based upon a number of assumptions which have not been spelled out in that short paragraph. Neither does this analysis predict what will happen nor does it say what has happened in the past. It is an analytical device on the basis of hypothetical assumptions. The main impact of growth in industrial countries, however, as indicated in this paragraph, is through an increase in the exports of developing countries, and secondly, to a possible impact on the flow of resources from the developed to the developing countries.

Now, in both these cases, the expected favourable impact may not materialize. Firstly, the response of exports of the developing countries depends on the nature of exports; the response of agricultural exports from developing countries to growth and industrial countries is weaker and slower than that of manufactured exports. Secondly, the impact could be uneven and amongst various developing countries. Agricultural exports of low-income developing countries, most of them, face stagnant demand and sometimes competition incentive substitutes. They respond much less than the other exports. Therefore,

aggregate analysis of the type mentioned in the paragraph does conceal significant differences in terms of impact of growth in industrial countries on the actual situation in developing countries. Moreover, the impact of growth could be offset by rising protectionism in the developed countries which restrict exports to developing countries and also, as had been emphasized in the subsequent paragraphs in the same document, by the impact of high interest rates, which by adding to the debt service burden of developing countries have resulted, as indicated there, in net outflow of resources out of the developing world to the developed world.

For example in Latin America, as many distinguished delegates have emphasized, the severe debt service burden has imposed upon them the need for drastic readjustment policies in the domestic economy, resulting in squeezing of domestic consumption, imports, rate of growth. So the complicated set of factors which determine inter-dependence between developed and developing countries has not been fully analyzed in this paragraph. We hope that in a fuller document these issues will be more clearly indicated.

As far as paragraph 57 is concerned that refers to an entirely different phenomenon. It describes how the agricultural exports - total world agricultural exports-havebehaved in the past, and how the share of developed countries and developing countries has developed over the years, and I would say the share of developed countries in world agricultural exports had increased. The factors responsible for this increase have also been described in the subsequent paragraphs. Therefore paragraph 14, as far as exports are concerned, refers to all exports. Paragraph 57 refers only to agricultural exports and their evolution over the last ten years. So from that point of view they are totally consistent. In fact, as the document emphasizes including the supplement, the improvement in the trade of developing countries shown in 1983 is only compared to the earlier 1982/83 because this is an annual review, so we have compared specifically last year 1982 with 1983. Now if you compare over a longer period; the situation is very different. For example, while the terms of trade of developing countries have, improved in 1983 compared with 1982, it still remains greatly depressed below the earlier years, especially 1979/80. Again the value of agricultural exports of developing countries, although registering an improvement in 1983 over 1982, is very much below the level of 1981 over all areas.

Comments have been made from the floor as to the inadequacies of treatment of various regions. Admittedly in this short version as you call it, mini so far, we have been unable to deal in detail with all the aspects of food and agriculture. In the full,version which is published later, we intend to have, as we have done in the past, fuller coverage of regional details.

We are very grateful to the distinguished delegates for their comments on our treatment of urbanization. Indeed, in dealing with this subject we have been drawing upon the work of other United Nations agencies including the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, as well as the United Nations Population Division, and in the more extended version and treatment of the subject in the later fuller version of the State of Food and Agriculture we will certainly take the various aspects mentioned with the distinguished delegates in mind.

Two questions have been raised on the issues of cereal stocks. First, is this concept of safe minimum level of cereal stocks 17 to 18 percent of annual consumption a still valid and appropriate one? This is an issue, a subject of constant review and discussion in the Secretariat as well as the various FAO Committees and fora. For example, we had a detailed discussion on this subject in the Ad Hoc Expert Consultation we had some years earlier on measures to meet acute and larger scale food shortages. This concept obviously is not without its limitations, but what it seeks to indicate is a number of features in one unified concept of stocks of cereals as a proportion of annual consumption. At a global level this concept has indeed been found useful. For example, it has been found that when the world cereal stocks fall below 17 to 18 percent of world annual consumption of cereals, further depletion of cereal stocks is associated with a rise in the price of cereals, the world price of cereals.

Secondly, the aggragate stock figure is not used in isolation. It has to be put in a proper context. Two features especially must be remembered: a) the composition of the cereal stocks, wheat, rice and other coarse grain. Depending on the composition, any impact on food security is different, but on the whole we have assumed that these crops are substitutable in consumption which is, of course, a limitation on this; b) I believe the geographical distribution of stocks is also relevant. When you analyze in any of our documents where they mention this aggragate ratio, we immediately also describe its composition and its geographical distribution, because geographical location does determine the ease of accessibility to stocks on the part of developing countries. If it is concentrated in one region of the world then it is not as effective for ensuring food security as if it is dispersed throughout the affected regions.

Therefore, in the absence of a better indicator we continue to use this, but this does not imply that we do not see the need to re-estimate the safe level of the stocks using more up-to-date data, and review the matters if necessary and examine the relationship between variations in world stocks and variations in world export prices. Work along these lines is already underway by the Secretariat.

The distinguished delegate of India asked a question about information on the current status of the South Asia food security reserve proposal. This proposal is now being considered by the FAO Regional Commission on Food Security for Asia and the Pacific Region, which reviewed it at its first session in 1983. The Commission felt that there were some further studies needed to be undertaken to work out some of the details of the proposal. Moreover, before further studies are undertaken there was a need to elicit the clear reaction of the countries concerned regarding the acceptability of such an idea. In the meanwhile the FAO Secretariat has planned to undertake a project for determining optimum national reserve stock levels as a first step in that direction.

I may mention here in this connection a Symposium on World Food Security which you had here earlier this year - this is in reference to a comment by a distinguished delegate as to the need of analyses on the impact of policies in both the developed and the developing countries on world food security. This symposium was attended by 13 experts from both developed and developing countries, people with considerable research experience in the area of world food security. They had clarified or deliberated on clarification some of the issues and the questions which were raised in the context of the Director-General's revised concept of world food security. Among the issues they had considered were precisely the concept of food reserves both national and international, as well as the role of food reserves in the context of promoting world food security. The concept of optimum level of reserves at the national level in the developing countries was also discussed in relation to the alternative of relying on trade as a means of stabilizing supplies and prices in developing countries. We hope to publish the papers presented to the symposium as well as the record of the discussions in the near future.

One additional question was asked about the International Monetary Fund food financing facility. Since its inception three and a half years ago five countries have made drawings under this facility for a total sum of about 475 million US dollars. The question therefore has been raised why, in view of the present and the last few years' food situation, why there have not been greater drawings from this facility. One reason is that the food grain prices in the international market have tended to decline since the facility was set up, thus one of the situations which the facility was intended to cope with, namely large increases in the import price of cereals such as occurred in the 1973-75 period, has not in fact arisen. However, one might ask how is it that given the temporary shortfalls in many countries in domestic food production that drawings have not been more widely spread.

The most important reason it seems to us is that the cereal financing facilities of the International Monetary Fund is combined with another facility which is in fact part of the bigger facility, compensatory financing facility for export shortfalls. Now if a member opts for this scheme, that member cannot switch back to the original well-established compensatory financing facility, at least for three years. As a consequence, when it opts for this scheme it runs a certain risk of diminished drawing for compensation in the event of future adverse fluctuations in its export earnings. One way obviously of meeting the situation is to delete both the schemes. The International Monetary Fund will be carrying out a review of this scheme next year because it was originally established for four years. So the Board of the International Monetary Fund will now take a decision on a) whether to continue the scheme, and b) whether any modification is necessary. We¿in the Secretariat, hope to do a further analysis on the experience with this scheme in the past few years, and we hope our analysis will contribute to the process of a review by the International Monetary Fund.

CHAIRMAN: I think we have had nearly seven hours of discussion on this item and I want to thank the 40 delegates and observers who have made contributions. I would like to join all of them in congratulating and thanking the Director-General, Dr Saouma, Dr Islam and all their colleagues for the balanced and perceptive survey of the State of Food and Agriculture presented in CL 86/2 and CL 86/2 Sup.l. It is neither necessary nor possible to highlight or summarize many of the points made by the delegates, but nevertheless I would like to touch on one or two items.

First, it is obvious that delegates from several developing countries have rightly stressed that external constraints leading to a net outflow of resources from their nations have limited the possibility of harnessing the needed capital for the modernization of their own agriculture. Rising cost of debt servicing, adverse balance of trade, deteriorating terms of trade with regard to the produce farmers sell and the goods and inputs they purchase, are all negative factors and have been referred to. Therefore the agriculturally less advanced nations face the dilemma of having to increase farm productivity without having the resources to invest on rural and farm infrastructure and development. From my own travels I find this is a very crucial problem, the inadequacy of capital for the modernization of agriculture. Unless a solution can be found, productivity will continue to stagnate in may of these nations. There are many examples known to distinguished delegates here to show that even a small help to small farmers by way of more favourable input and output pricing policies often triggers great progress.

Delegates have also stressed that emphasis on external constraints does not mean that urgent attention is not needed to the removal of the internal constraints through appropriate Government policies at home. In this context the Harare and Buenos Aires Declarations have been referred to frequently and they both point out the need for developing countries to adopt policies which can promote growth and self-reliance coupled with social justice. Several delegates have also forcefully brought out the need for greater attention to input security and to the principal factors of production, particularly to water harvesting in rainfed areas and scientific water management in irrigated areas. Reference has also been made to the need for preparing value added products from all parts of plants and animals, through the adoption of modern techniques of biomass utilization and bioconversion, thereby helping to generate greater opportunities for employment in rural areas. We all know that history teaches us that a significant improvement in the standard of life occurs only when a part of the labour force is withdrawn from the routine operations of farming and deployed in agro-industrial and industrial pursuits. The need for the symbiotic development of agriculture and industry on the one hand and rural and urban areas is hence obvious, and has been rightly stressed by several delegates.

The Chairman of the Group of 77, the distinguished delegate of the Philippines, wanted me to deal specifically with the prospects for improving productivity through low input technology. Inputs are needed for output and therefore the term ‘low input technology’ can be misleading. What, however, is implied normally by this term is not the reduced application of inputs like nutrients but altering their source, as for example, the substitution of purchased mineral fertilizers with home-grown ones.

It is in this context that nitrogen fixed in the soil through the Azolla-Anabaena symbiotic association, to which the Chairman of the Group of 77 referred, assumes importance. This source of nitrogen addition needs water and has been used by farmers in China and Viet Nam for centuries. The Philippines has a large programme in areas where the phosphorus content of the soil is adequate to sustain Azolla growth. Among other biological sources of nitrogen are blue green algae, free living bacteria in the soil, green manures and the inclusion of grain and fodder legumes in the rotation. All these sources can add enough nutrition to sustain a 3 to 4 ton per hectare crop. Higher yields than this will need the addition of mineral fertilizers. Hence, we should promote an integrated nutrient supply system involving organic recycling, biofertilizers and mineral fertilizers. I would like to mention in this context that the International Winged Bean Institute, established in Sri Lanka, to which FAO has extended support, is planning to initiate a programme of research for the improvement of several perennial legumes which can provide fuel, fodder, feed and fertilizer.

Reference has been made by some delegates to the urgent need for bridging the yield gap prevailing in many countries in major food crops. Where water is available and nutrients can be supplied in needed amounts, about 7 to 8 tons of cereal grains can be harvested per ha.per crop.

If we take this as the ultimately feasible national average yield at currently available levels of techonology, countries can be divided into four major groups based on the size of the gap between potential and actual yields: Group 1 countries, practically no yield gap, in other words already the average yield is over 6 to 7 tons; Group 2, 25 percent gap; Group 3, 50 percent gap; and Group 4, 75 percent or more. Only a multi-disciplinary constraints analysis can help to reveal the precise constraints responsible for the gaps and their relative importance. Ecological, technological, socio-political, institutional and economic constraints all play a part - the precise contribution of each of these major groups of constraints may vary from country to country, and in large countries from region to region within the country. The undertaking of such a study will be helpful both in determining priorities in investment and in the choice of strategies for development. We all know that in many developing and densely populated countries there is no option except to produce more food from less land in the future. The pathway of exploitative agriculture leading to the mining of soil fertility will yield short-term gains but will spell long-term doom. We need to follow a middle path, often referred to as ecological agriculture. Scientifically, this middle path usually adds the term 'integrated’ before such aspects of crop management like pest control, water management and nutrient supply. Such integrated systems require group action and cooperation on the parts of numerous small farmers. Social engineers and developmental administrators will therefore have to work out the public policy measures such as group insurance and other group incentives; needed to stimulate and sustain cooperative action among farmers living in a village or watershed or command area of an irrigation project in protecting the health of the plant and in promoting the care of the soil. Such a path of agricultural development alone can help us in achieving the desired productivity gains without long-term harm to terrestrial and aquatic productivity.

Several delegates have emphasized that all this can be accomplished only if the supreme consideration in our work is human happiness. Mahatma Gandhi in my country asked over 50 years ago all those in charge of formulating development projects to ask themselves whether the project they are about to initiate will make any change in the life of the poorest segment of the population. The Minister for Development Cooperation of Norway forcefully restated this principle today. I see in the deliberations on this Agenda item seeds of hope and I thank you for this.

CHAIRMAN: Thank you very much, Mr. Director-General. You have certainly set the tone for our subsequent discussion. I request those delegates who will be participating in the discussion to lay emphasis on points of action rather than merely restating the situation prevailing today. The more action points which can be brought out, the more helpful will it be.

ASSEFA YILALA (Ethiopia): First of all, like all the other previous speakers, I would like to express my congratulations and good wishes of success in the deliberations of the Eighty-sixth Session of the Council to you, Mr Chairman, your Vice-Chairmen and other members of your convening body. I would also like to seize this opportunity to thank the Director-General of FAO, Dr Saouma, for bringing the drought situation and extreme food shortage problems of Ethiopia to the attention of the international community once again. His remarks on Africa have a greater and foremost priority as an indication of concern, for this is a major problem facing our planet today. This is encouraging and a support to the efforts that we are making in our respective countries in saving the lives of hungry people at this very grave moment.

The Ethiopian delegation would like to indicate its appreciation for the presentation of both the previous paper and the paper that was presented in the afternoon by Dr Edouard Saouma. The various aspects of the State, of Food and Agriculture were duly considered in these presentations.

Since August 1984, when these reports were released, the state of food and agriculture has not shown any better signs of improvement at all. Instead, it has become worse and a cause for hunger and suffering for millions of Africans. The food aid requirement has increased due to the inadequate rains in the month after August.

At this point, I would like to draw your attention to the situation in Ethiopia with a view to explaining this grave situation. In accordance with a report released by the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission of Ethiopia, the number of people to be affected with food shortages in 1985 is estimated at about 7 million, requiring over 1.2 million metric tons. This food aid requirement is as much as what was estimated for the whole of Eastern Africa in August.

Because of the increased shortages in food supplies and.because of the magnification of the problem, most of the developing countries have channelled their meager resources to the distribution and supply of food in those affected areas, thus leaving very little or none to the development of other sectors.

As you all know, agriculture is the main occupation of Ethiopia, with over 85 percent of its population engaged in it at a subsistence level. The drought that affected many African countries had its worst blows on Ethiopian agriculture both in 1983 and 1984.

The small rains in 1983, which were normally of importance to 20 percent of agricultural produce, failed. The big rain, which is of importance for the remaining balance of agricultural produce, started late and stopped early, as was reported by Dr Saouma.

The food shortage that we observe in Ethiopia today is mainly the effect of the failure of the small rain in the latter part of 1983 and inadequate rainfall during the main production season of 1984. The effect of the failure of rain has caused suffering and hunger to over seven million Ethiopians today.

To reduce some of these food shortage problems, a national committee composed of members from the highest government bodies was established. Under this national committee, 12 committees are also organized for the different functions of the emergency relief operations and short-term agricultural measures.

For relief operations: distribution of food crops, encouraging the participation of people and farmers’ organizations, improving the efficiency of its agricultural marketing cooperations and the importation of additional food, either through purchase or through donations, is in operation.

For short-term agricultural production: resettlement schemes where climatic conditions are favourable for crop production, encouragement of all people to participate in vegetable production in the backyards and available fallow land to supplement the food shortages, and distribution of seeds, fertilizers, implements and oxen for plowing are all being monitored by these committees in collaboration with the effective implementing agency.

At this point whatever assistance is coming from other sources would get the full support of this committee thus organized. Thus, a maximum effort is being organized by the government and people of Ethiopia. The prevailing food shortage crisis is beyond the means and resources available. Agriculture being the main source of any foreign currency and with the failure of crops this year, the importation of farm implements and farm inputs is also becoming difficult.

A harsh drought has also affected the livestock population, thus reducing plowing capabilities, while the need to get assistance on food crops becomes priority number one, considering ways and means of seeking solutions with the objective of enabling Ethiopian farmers to produce their own food.

At this point, we would like to support the Director-General's idea of sending a high-level delegation to study the conditions of settling the farmers, enabling them to produce food as much as possible.

We are also appealing to all members of this session to bring this grave situation facing Ethiopia today to the attention of all, using whatever forum is available to wield their united arm to solving our existing problems.

J.D. SANDY (Sierra Leone): Mr Chairman, it is indeed a pleasure to see you guiding the affairs of this Council together with you distinguished Vice-Chairmen. I wish you well. I would also like to say to the director-General that his thought-provoking statement was to a large extent disturbing, particularly when drawing our attention to the food situation in Africa and specific areas. On behalf of my government and myself, we pay tribute to his concern and his untiring efforts to help us alleviate our poverty. He has mentioned in no uncertain terms that he will focus and give priority to African agriculture and livestock. We commend him for that.

1 also wish to pay tribute to Dr Islam for his critical appraisal of the agriculture and food situation in the world. The people of Africa depend upon agriculture now, and they will do so for the foreseeable future. Our agricultural production has to expand if we are to survive. It has to expand faster if we are to lift ourselves out of our present poverty and provide for all our people the basic material requirements of human dignity and real freedom. Equally, agricultural expansion has to be directed to meet our needs. I will have to depart a little from rhetoric. We all know the constraint imposed on agricultural development in Africa: protectionism, trade barriers, pricing policy, social and political problems - I need not go over that; those are all well-known to us.

Apart from those constraints, there are one or two points which I want to bring to the attention of the Council and to FAO. I think this is the right time for me to do it. If I do not do it, I may not have time to say it before I leave. As much as we are concerned about the constraints imposed on our development of agriculture, we of the African continent do not pay lip service to development in agriculture. What I want to bring to your attention is the disbursement policy of financial agencies. Now that I am speaking here, most financial agencies have suspended disbursements to my country because they say we have failed to pay our service charges. This is a critical area which gives us some concern. Just at the peak of our planting season, we always get telexes from these Financial Institutions that disbursement will be suspended if service charges are not met. Just at that time when the enthusiasm is at its height, farmers disbursements are suspended because service charges of about 6 000 or 3 000, have not been paid and these withdrawals may persist for about 2 months. At that time, we cannot move. The counterpart funds provided given by government are used to pay staff, and we depend on the agreement we have concluded with Financial Agencies for remittances to be made for us to meet the farmers and give them credits, and give them inputs. And when that is lackingfor two months, you know exactly what happens. We have four months in which we have to do all our preparations and planting. If we took two months out of that, it means they have frustrated our efforts, and if we have any failure this year, it is because of the disbursement policy adopted by Financial Organizations.

I will appeal to you and your colleagues if you can prevail on thera to review their disbursement policies. This has given us some concern.

Now that we have been warned of drought, I want to draw the attention of FAO that we in Sierra Leone would seek simple and small irrigational projects conducted in our swamps. We shall be conducting our workshop on swamp development from the 26th to 30th of this month in Sierra Leone. I will not be there because I am here. But one of the points which I asked my officials to bring to the notice of participants is that we have been warned by drought; this year we have less rain. We should begin to focus our attention on small irrigation projects rather than still continue to depend on rainbed crops. I would like the Council to take note of that.

I would like finallly to thank you for giving us this opportunity to tell you, our constraints in agricultural development. We think the Organization can still continue to assist us to eradicate hunger and poverty, and enhance our earning capacity, enhance our dignity and freedom. Let us act to build Africa. I appeal to the Organization for more funds, for them to continue to help the African continent.

H.M. MBALE (Malawi): May I ask your indulgence to allow me to make a brief statement regarding the depressing food situation in Africa. However, before doing so, I would like to join speakers before me in thanking the Director-General for the excellent conference arrangements and documentation and for extending the invitation to the government of the Republic of Malawi to attend this Council. I wish also to thank the government and the people of the Republic of Italy for the warm welcome and hospitality my delegation has received since its arrival in this historic and beautiful country. May I also thank you for conducting the deliberations so far so well. I have no doubt that this will continue. At the same time, I also wish to congratulate the three Vice-Chairmen on their election and trust that they will assist you in conducting the deliberations of our Council.

Now, if I can go to the topic which the Director-General has introduced this afternoon, the food crisis in Africa. The regrettable and deplorable food crisis is a well-known phenomenon to all members of our Council in recent years. Indeed it has attracted hasty international attention and even action in the form of food aid to affected countries. While this approach is appreciated, namely to respond to sudden food crises and shortages, deplorably it does not address itself to long-range food self-sufficiency of a country. To complement food aid, action must be taken now to address those areas in the food production system that would achieve and sustain increased food production. The principles of self reliance as embodied in the Harare Declaration and the policy of food self-sufficiency as outlined by His Excellency, the Life-President of Malawi, Dr H. Kamuzu Banda, who is also Minister of Agriculture, must be fully appreciated and supported by the international community and multilateral organizations, if Africa is to be pulled out of its present humiliating and degrading predicament. The unhappy situation in Africa has arisen because of many factors including the following: - increasing desertification, persistent drought, shortage of trained manpower, high prices of inputs, low prices of agricultural products in the international market -for example sugar, inadequate linkage between agricultural research and agricultural extension, and one area, Mr Chairman that I would like to emphasize very much, perhaps to give it as an example as a need in African agriculture today, is lack of sufficient research information in soil classification, appropriate fertilizers for these soils, rainfall patterns and suitable crop varieties for the areas. In many areas of the agricultural systems the small-holder farmer is often left to fend for himself without the necessary support from government services. If these gaps in essential agricultural information can be filled I believe that a lot can be achieved in the quest for increased agricultural production, given favourable weather conditions.

If you would allow me to make just one or two points in so far as my country is concerned, the food situation in Malawi. As it has been stated, many countries on the continent of Africa are facing food shortages of crisis proportions. Malawi, on the other hand, has been spared this harrowing experience although it has had its share of persistent droughts which have become common occurences in Africa in recent years, and we have just heard from our colleague from Sierra Leone that the rains have come out of turn in his country. In spite of droughts, Malawi has remained self sufficient in food. This happy situation has been achieved because the Government of Malawi accords a very high priority to the sufficient food supply, so much so that the country must remain self sufficient under any circumstances by policy. The Government emphazises the need for diversification and the diversified food base means that all known food crops must be grown in sufficient quantities.

However, this does not mean that Malawi has no problems. It has many, the main one being transport. Being land-locked the country suffers from slow movements of its exports and imports. This often results in insufficient supplies of inputs and other essentials. In turn these slow down the development of the country.

Finally, I wish to stress the need for our countries to pay increasing attention to the following areas: developing irrigation potential, developing agro-industries, establishing fertilizer plants in our regions, reorganizing our agricultural research and extension strategies, improving the quality of life in rural areas by creating employment opportunities and necessary social amenities. This list can be extended by all colleagues here.

KONG CANDONG (China) (Original language Chinese): The very important statement made by the Director-General just now on the African food situation clearly explains the severeness of the African food problem and also shows how great the attention is given by FAO and Dr. Saouma to the elimination of hunger and malnutrition.

We have learned from the introductory statement made by the Director-General that some countries of the African continent are suffering from consecutive severe drought. Their food production and supply availability are deteriorating. A great number of victims are threatened by hunger and starvation which cannot but cause our deep uneasiness and concern.

The Chinese People had experienced similar misfortunes as is being experienced by the African people. The Chinese Government and People therefore deeply sympathize with the African People. Though China is a very low-income and economically less developed country, it is willing to increase its assistance to those African countries within its ability. Ever since this year, the Chinese Government has decided to commition several occasions a total of 80 000 tons of emergency food assistance for disaster relief to the disaster stricken African countries, to show its sympathy and her support to the fraternal African people. We would also like to appeal to the international community to strengthen cooperation, make joint efforts and take urgent relief measures, to help the African People to get rid of hunger and poverty as soon as possible, and to support the development in a big way.of agricultural and food production. We are convinced that the African People are able to speed up their development of agricultural production and solve their food problem by relying on their own efforts, coupled with the support of the international community.

C. SUPSARN (Thailand): First of all, on behalf of my delegation, I wish to express my pleasure, at seeing you in the Chair again and would like to congratulate the three Vice-Chairman for their election.

My delegation, as always, finds the Secretariat’s review of the current world food situation a very useful and factual analysis, providing a setting for the work of the Council which is required to focus on those of its functions which relate to the general policy of the Organization, including obviously the world food agriculture situation.

Today we are meeting at perhaps the most difficult period of this decade with the food crisis in Africa. As we have learned from the document before us and from the Director-General’s introductory statement that, despite recent improvements in some countries, the food supply situation in much of Africa continues to be difficult. There are many countries in Africa which still face acute food shortages. While my delegation is most concerned about their extremely serious situation, we are happy to note with satisfaction the timely step taken by the Director-General of FAO in establishing FAO/WFP Task Force as well as the appeals made to donors for more assistance as indicated in paragraph 95 of document CL 86/2. We also agree with the point indicated in paragraph 100 of the same document that rehabilitation and post-emergency measures are also required to restore agricultural production and help prevent recurring food crises in countries prone to drought. In this connection, my delegation would like to appeal to donor countries to support the projects covering such a measure.

It is also gratifying to note that FAO is continuing to assist many African countries in establishing and developing an early warning system as well as preparing contingency plans for famine relief distribution, as indicated in paragraphs 58 and 60 of document CL 82/2 Sup-1.

In conclusion, my delegation strongly supports the Harare Declaration and considers the Declaration an important instrument for the attainment of self-reliance in Africa. We see that proper and appropriate emphasis and priority is highly placed on agricultural and rural development.

My delegation sees that no matter how good and strong the will of this Declaration is, it will not be an easy task to accomplish unless the Declaration is given full support by international organizations, the donor countries as well as the non-governemental organizations. To this end, my delegation wishes to give unqualified support to the efforts being made by FAO to help the African countries to attain that noble goal.

A.K. OSUBAN (Uganda): The Director-General in his introduction of this subject was concise and precise to the point. The problems of the food crisis in Africa have been studied by various agencies and have been discussed in many fora but most of these discussions have centred on issues pertaining to constraints prevailing at the material time, with little or no attention on debating ways and means of implementing concrete plans of action for increasing food production.

We believe that those of us assembled here are duty-bound, under the present crisis, to come out with a clear positive line of action of how we will tackle the problem of increased food production.

My delegation believes that, in the first instance, radical reorientation of national development strategies, coupled with high zeals of political will on the part of our governments, will be required to effect the appropriate measures of increased food production. This intent of political will and conviction to self-reliance was manifested by the African Ministers of Agriculture in the famous Harare Declaration.

In our opinion, for the long-term solution of food production in Africa, concerted efforts are required in the following areas: manpower resources development in areas of training, research, delivery systems and institutional development. The importance of availability of trained local manpower at all levels for agricultural development cannot be overemphasized. In this respect, the governments will have to enhance their retentive incentives in order to avoid a brain drain of trained manpower. We commend the Director-General for having produced a study on the assessment of trained agricultural manpower in Africa.

The next point of focus is irrigation. Given the unreliability of rainfall, heavy dependence on rainfed agriculture cannot offer sufficient food security. The delegate of India yesterday, and many others today, informed us how irrigation has played a major role in increasing food production in their countries. Probably this is an area where TCDC would be explored. We are aware that in many developing countries large scale capital intensive irrigation projects would compete for the scarce resources; we therefore recommend the development of small-scale irrigation schemes which could suit smallholders and are more feasible and easy to implement.

The third area is research and technology, My delegation would recommend that adaptive action-oriented research and improved technologies be pursued to develop crops which could fit the smallholder's farming system and techniques in the different countries. Here we have in mind prospects for increasing productivity of the basic staples in our various countries, including maize, millets, sorghum, cassava and tubers which constitute about 60 percent of the staples in Africa but which have had the least technical packages which could be extended to farmers. We note that the proposed new major study on Africa, by FAO will focus on these food crops on aspects of increasing their yields and improve their nutritional quality and on implication for national government and the donor community. We therefore endorse this study in the belief that it may come out with concrete and realistic practical solutions.

The next area is livestock disease control. International and technical support is needed to effect programmes of disease control.

Last but not least, we are of the view that the subject of agrometeorology has not been given its due emphasis in the Africa Region. Crop forecasting and early warning systems depend very heavily on an efficient, reliable system of agrometeorology. In this regard we fully endorse paragraphs 58 and 59.

These are among the areas we believe need urgent attention to effect increased production.

In conclusion, let me once again thank FAO for the tremendous work it is doing to promote increased food production; we give special recognition to the various efforts and initiatives of the Director-General in alerting the international community and mobilizing assistance for Africa.

G.P. KHOJANE (Lesotho): Taking the floor for the first time, let me first tell you how happy my delegation is to see you in the Chair. We believe that your well-known qualities will enable you to bring the deliberations of this Council to a successful conclusion. These remarks also apply to all members of your bureau.

In taking the floor it is a great pleasure for me to address this Council on this important issue of the critical problem in Africa. The problem has been very ably exposed by the Director-General and fully described by the many other delegations which have spoken before me. My delegation wishes to put on record its appreciation for the efforts of the Director-General of FAO in making the world community aware of this critical problem and the subsequent action to try to contain the situation.

Many lives have been saved as a result of emergency food supplies provided by the world community. Lesotho as one of the 22 countries seriously affected by the prevailing food shortage in Africa has benefited from the assistance given by the international community in response to the appeals made by the Director-General.

The pathetic food situation in Africa is a result of several factors among which are persistent drought, population growth and ignorance. These factors are not new, but it is the magnitude of the effects that is new. Not only are the people and land going to waste and extermination but the remaining individuals are on the brink of losing hope. This sense of futility must be stopped forthwith. It is with this background in mind that my delegation calls for greater emphasis in action programmes designed to improve food security both in long- and short-terms. In the short-term supplies of food aid is save lives. In the long-term great emphasis is to be placed on the production of food. In this context harnessing of water resources for irrigation, training of personnel and farmers should be given priority. My delegation notes with great appreciation the work which FAO has undertaken in Africa on these issues. However, what is now required is to initiate action programmes to implement the recommendations. Africa has land, water and human resources to implement irrigation schemes, and what is lacking is the know-how and necessary investment. The political will and commitment of the African governments have been demonstrated in the Lagos Plan of Action and most recently in the Harare Declaration.

In the wider context my delegation further calls for population management policies as part of the food problem. The population growth rate, rural/urban migration, are issues which, though outside the scope of agriculture, complicate food requirements. To this end my delegation calls for greater cooperation and coordination among the United Nations agencies in order to improve the socio-economic plight of the poorest of the poor.

A.M. QURESHI (Pakistan): First of all, my delegation would like to extend it heartiest felicitations to the Director-General for his all-embracing statement bearing on the tragic food situation in Africa. We would also like to congratulate the Secretariat for their most comprehensive situation reports on Africa. This special focus on Africa shows the gravity of the situation on this continent and the highest priority accorded to it by the Director-General of FAO. Through you, Mr Chairman, we pledge to the Director-General our whole hearted support to the initiatives he has taken and is taking to alleviate the grave situation of hunger in Africa.

The statement of the Director-General graphically depicts the appalling picture of grave human tragedy taking place in Africa. ït emanates from his deepest concern for the famished, for the hungry, for the destitute, for the dying in parts of Africa. It is heartening to note that his passionate appeals for succour to the international community have met with success and that t thousands of precious human lives have been saved from tragedy. But I think there is a long way to go. In the words of Robert Frost:

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep, I have promises to keep And miles -to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep"

Africa is beset today with natural calamities, with man-made disasters which have only added to this cruelty being perpetrated on Africa. Growing protectionism, deep economic recession, decline in external assistance to the agricultural sector, higher interest rates, decline in export earnings, balance of payments problems and the intractible debt crisis have added to the misery. It is painful to note that despite some improvements in some countries in western Africa, a large number of African countries will continue to face food emergencies throught 1985, while the situation in Ethiopia and Chad has now assumed critical proportions.

Hence, there is an urgent need for continuing emergency assistance to those countries. World food and agricultural production will be the second highest in the last 25 years and world crop production will be one of the best in the last decade. Cereal production will achieve a new record in 1985, but unfortunately, due to uneven distribution, there will be oases of plenty in deserts of shortages which only mean a difference between life and death to so many. It is not a challenge to our conscience that on the one hand there are mountains of plenty and on the other, part of mankind continues to meet fateful death because the hand that is most in need cannot reach out to where the food is? The shadows of famine accentuate the tribulations of Africa.

Emergency assistance must be stepped up to save the dying from death. But we should also think of long-term measures on which heavy reliance can be placed to enable Africans to stand on their own feet so that they can combat drought and desertification and do away with the wasteful death of thousands of precious human lives. They say if you give a man a fish he will have one meal, but if you teach him how to fish he will eat all his life. We should think seriously of longer term

measures to improve the lot of Africans as underlined by the Director-General, to promote not only rapid recovery and rehabilitation of the affected zones but also to extend assistance to develop self-reliance where necessary. Many measures in this regard have been spotlighted this afternoon. We also fully endorse the recommendations of paragraphs 57 to 66 of document CL 86/2-Sup.1.

Ours is an interdependent world. It is our confident hope that we can build a better and more beautiful world if the required political will can be mustered. The long, dark night of suffering must come to an end in Africa. My delegation wholeheartedly shares the vision of the Director-General, and his new frontiers of hope and optimism in creating a golden age in which famine is unknown and hunger an exception. For the attainment of this objective we must work together in complete harmony and unison, one and all, no matter where we are, and whatever our task may be.

I would like to mention that Pakistan in some modest way is contributing its share to the alleviation of hunger and the promotion of food security in part of the world, and will continue to do so in the future.

J.D.L. RICHARDS (New Zealand): My country recognizes the extent of the problem of world hunger on a global scale and acknowledges the responsibility of the international community to respond to desperate human needs. Given the gravity and scale of the problem in Africa, it is only right that the main focus of attention should be there. Many African countries face drought, famine and disaster which have undermined living conditions and threatened the survival of whole communities. In many countries, the present emergency is overwhelming the hard won developmental efforts of several decades.

The present crisis in Africa imposes a severe test on the international community. Because conditions are so grave, it is all the more vital that a coordinated response be forthcoming. It is gratifying that we are now witnessing this response in Ethiopia, the concerted effort needed to help the countries most affected to protect their people and to get back on the road to development. The United Nations system through FAO, the special relief agencies and WFP has an important role to play in the humanitarian relief process. Many donors with substantial programmes of development cooperation in Africa have moved to consolidate their assistance. Multilateral agencies, the development finance institutions, the UN agencies and non-governmental groups, both religious and secular, have adjusted their priorities to meet these new needs.

New Zealand welcomes these new initiatives to focus more attention on Africa. New Zealand also recognizes the need for adequate mechanisms, both at the international and the national level, which can respond quickly and efficiently to food shortage crises in low-income, food-deficit countries. New Zealand is a major exporter of primary products but the nature of our terrain is such that traditionally most of this trade is in livestock products to such an extent we often have to supplement our grain production with imports. Our major commodity production is not much sought after for emergency food aid. We have found that the most effective assistance we can give in this context, expecially in relation to the needs of Africa - which is a long way away from us - is through the contribution of cash grants through establided multinational channels such as WFP, occasionally earmarked for specific purposes. Therefore, we have made grants this year to the UNHCR and we have made a grant recently to WFP for emergency drought relief. The public in New Zealand is also aware of the suffering and the need, and like ordinary people in many other countries, is responding outside the framework of government action.

New Zealand has found from its own experience in development assistance that the most effective aid is that which contributes to the growth of production capacity of a developing country, thereby increasing its wealth and enabling it to make its own improvements in social infrastructure. In this creation of wealth the role of the small farmer is a key one. New Zealand's development cooperation programmes have always emphasized the need for the small farmer to receive increased attention in the allocation of development expenditure and in establishing research priorities and production incentives.

In the task of rebuilding the agriculture of drought-ravaged African countries we believe that these considerations will have to be taken into account. If it does not seem presumptuous to say so, it is gratifying to note the terms of the Harare Declaration in this connection. I am sure that the Declaration and its implications will be studied with some interest by the authorities in New Zealand.

J.D. AITKEN (United Kingdom): As this is the first statement by the United Kingdom I would like to add my welcome to those previous delegations gave to your chairmanship and to say how fortunate we are to be able to draw upon your counsels and guidance during the course of our meeting. May I also add that as well as those qualities which one expects from a chairman, you also display a valuable, deep, expert knowledge of the problems of agriculture in the developing world which I am sure is of great benefit to us all.

May I begin by welcoming the positive tone of the opening speech by the Director-General. I will refer to this later, but I should preface my remarks by saying how welcome and how sensible we found many of the elements of his statement. In common with many other countries outside the African continent, I would like to stress that the Government and public of the United Kingdom are considerably concerned over the problems of Africa. We are anxious to help in every way we can. Equally, I hope that it will be felt that my remarks are not simply those of an outside expert, but are comments from someone who has had experience of development in Africa and who has worked with African farmers. I have a great appreciation of and respect for the way they face their problems; I also appreciate the problems facing the various governments and civil servants in that continent.

My comments then come in two parts. First of all, I will make some general comments about problems in Africa, secondly, I would like to propose a role for FAO particularly in relation to the drought-stricken countries. In any discussion on Africa I think it helps quickly and briefly to look back over what has happened during the last decade. We think that in the early 1970s both donors and governments misread the strenght of the fragile economies in Africa. So far as agriculture was concerned, governments, often without any other source of revenue, taxed agriculture through artificially depressing producer prices to subsidize development plans in other sectors, for example, industry. We now realize that the results were often disastrous - falling agricultural production and very often developments in other sectors which were very unsatisfactory. We can all think of loss-making industrial plants, or irrigation systems which will demand subsidy. At the same time, inefficient marketing boards and government intervention often damaged production and discourage growers. For their part, donors financed large infrastructure projets which the African economies could not support. And the donors did not provide recurrent costs. A common theme in those days, was, "We will build the hospital; you will find the drugs and the money to pay for services". Governements themselves were overwhelmed by demands for more projects, more development from their people. Governments had to respond. At the same time, donors pressed those governments with more projects and more paperwork to support their own programmes. The result was often a collapse of management and administration within the recipient governments which in turn had a damaging effect on agriculture and the ability of the country to produce. And all this time the population was rising - more children, more pressure on health care, more pressure on schools and, more serious, more pressure on the fragile land, often leading to the breakdown of traditional farming methods and the steady increase of the urban landless and dispossessed. In many countries this pressure, coupled with the harsh climate, has produced a stark landscape of erosion. Fly over Africa today and one can see that the soil has washed out into the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic, inland there is often bare rock. These problems have been discussed many times before and I apologise for reiterating them. Nevertheless I feel we should to just this, to try and put into a serous context what we are talking about.

So where do we go from here? The first thing that my Government - and I am sure others - emphasize is that external assistance will not be effective unless African governments themselves adopt appropriate policies which encourage agricultural production. We cannot stress this too strongly - the necessity for governments to adopt appropriate policies. In this connection we also very much welcome the practical realism of the Harare Declaration and the recent statements by the OUA in Addis Ababa.

We often talk about appropriate policies, and perhaps it may be helpful at this point to give some examples of the sort of things that we consider are important and significant. There is no uniqueness about this, it is not concealed wisdom. They have been widely publicized in such important documents as the World Bank’s Programme for Accellerated Development in sub-Saharan African and many other documents. All the experts, both African and outside the continent, seem to be agreed that one very important factor is to increase producer prices and give rewards to farmers. Make living in rural areas a more acceptable, more pleasant and a better, more worth-while life for people. It was very gratifying yesterday to hear reports from the distinguished delegated of China and India of the great increase in agricultural production in their countries which had come about through recent policy changes and reforms. Those of us who are aware of what is happening in those countries are also aware that one of the key features in both cases has been increasing producer prices, giving more rewards to farmers.

To follow this we urge governments to abolish inefficient marketing boards and government intervention agencies which skim off revenue and lose money. Where agencies skim off the money, the producer suffers. This surely cannot be a wise way of organizing the market. In fact, even "organizing" the market begs some questions, and there is certainly an argument for free markets in agricultural goods within Africa.

Another issue which cannot be ignored is land tenure and the need to adopt policies which give small farmers security and an incentive to produce more than just enough to feed their families. Governments can help too by strengthening rural economy, by encouraging improved marketing and agro-industries. This was brought out by the delegate of Malawi in his intervention.

It is necessary to encourage proper soil conservation methods, especially reafforestation. Also, improving the production of marginal lands by adapting research and bringing better methods to farmers. Here other developing countries can help. There are techniques and methods in the subcontinent of Asia and Latin America which relate to the provision of water and dry land farming which have the promise of benefitting Africa. There is an important role here for technical cooperation between the developing countries and we noticed that the FAO publication Sharing Experience for Progress has some very interesing ideas on this which could be developed. Finally, and probably most important of all, governments really will have to come to terms with introducing effective family planning programmes. I will not dwell on the statistics. What I will do is refer you to this FAO publication, Land, Food and People; and the projections that are contained in it and the very serious problems that will be faced at the end of the century when Africa's population rises to over 780 million. Governments have to do something about this or all other efforts will fail and the land will deteriorate.

Now, I have spoken about policies by governments, but we also recognize that along with this there, must be action by donors, and we would commend to donors as part of their policies and actions to support appropriate policies within the developing countries. We very much urge donors to have a dialogue with the recipient country about policies in the context of greater donor/recipient coordination. Again, we consider coordination to be a very important element in the effective use of development assistance. Donors have to consider grand projects very carefully. We want no more "cathedrals in the desert". Donors, too have to rethink their policies and direct efforts not to new projects but to rehabilitate the existing infrastructures, the roads, telecommunications, transport, etc. They also have to be prepared to adopt programmes which build institutions and develop the skills of people. It is necessary here to pay particular attention to developing management skills both within farming and within government, and accounting skills.

While we would not dissent from any of the comments made this morning by New Zealand about having a balance between food production and importing, in very vulnerable economies where there is no ready source of foreign exchange, we would hope that the donors would recognize the importance of food production, and here I would refer to the European communities' Food Strategy programme in four African countries - Zambia, Kenya, Malawi and Rwanda - as an example of the sort of initiative we have in mind. Again I refer to the publication Land, Food and People and suggest that donors should start considering the political importance of the conclusion that by the end of the century there will be 19 countries, many of them in Africa, unable to feed themselves.

This has not been a very happy intervention, in the sense that I have identified many problems and painted a very gloomy picture. I think this is necessary; it reflects the reality of the situation and the magnitude of the problem. There is a need for concerted action by the international community. All the international organizations have a role to play, the European Community, the World Bank, UNDP, they all have a role to play in assisting African countries to solve their problems. But in FAO, we have a particularly important source of unique and unrivalled expertise. We very much welcome the Director-General's commitment to increasing work on the problems of Africa. We welcome the promise of a study looking at very significant aspects of African agriculture, the increasing of production and acceptability of locally grown foods. This is of necessity going to be complicated and long-term study and here I must confess to having a sympathy with Kenya who, if I heard right, expressed a desire for perhaps less analysis, fewer studies and more actions.

We think, that in the case of the drought-stricken countries there is an opportunity for more immediate action by FAO, which is uniquely placed to assist the rehabilitation of agriculture in the drought-stricken countries. Let us pause for a moment and think of the problems of the restarting agriculture in these countries which have suffered disorganization, the problems cannot be overstated, these problems of transport, problems of organizing a demoralized population . They are very immediate problems. The Joint Task Force Report No. 6 identified some rehabilitation projects, but looking at them, our view is that these are likely to require some more work before they can be implemented. We would also suggest that the situation has deteriorated more rapidly than was envisaged in September, when the report was produced. We feel there is a need now for a more action-oriented approach to provide information so that both donors and recipients can rapidly identify what is needed and how these inputs can be distributed to farmers. Tunisia mentioned the problems of logistics. We cannot stress these problems too highly.

Against this background, where our present energies are quite rightly focused on the immediate need to save lives and feed the hungry, we suggest that in addition to this, we have to try and anticipate the immediate difficulties of restarting agriculture when the relief operations have fed the hungry. The areas affected are not homogeneous, and the problems may differ from region to region. For example, in some countries there may be areas less affected by drought which could provide seeds and stock to restart agriculture in the affected areas. Other countries may not be so fortunate and may require the mobilization of external resources to start the process of regeneration. Related problems we can foresee include the logistics of providing the inputs, seeds, fertilizer, etc., and equally important, identifying the necessary mix of grants and credit for

impoverished farmers and the human problem of moving people back onto their land and phasing out relief aid. It is our belief that it is not too early to start thinking about these issues, and we believe that if mobilized, the expertise within FAO could play an important role in assisting countries drawing up their own rehabilitation programme. At this point I must say again that we were very gratified to learn that this thinking does appear to accord very much with the statement of the Director-General. No great investment is required. A relatively modest but a well-structured technical cooperation programme should suffice; the expertise is already in-house in FAO here in Rome. On the invitation of governments and in consultation with donors, small teams of experts could visit the countries involved, assess the situation and help prepare action-oriented rehabilitation plans. To do this, they would have to not solely visit capitals, but go into the field and visit the farmers. Last night I was talking to a very distinguished expert of you own Organization, and we both considered the problem of rehabilitation. One of the very first things that we agreed on was the importance for people to get outside capitals, to speak to the farmers, to learn what was needed and then articulate this and translate it in such a way that it could be acted upon by governements and by donors. Such rehabilitation plans could be widely publicized within the donor community and activated on the basis of monitoring through, for example, the FAO Representatives. The cost of all this would be very small compared to the price of human misery and inefficiency if the international community does not think further than famine relief and longer-term rehabilitation. I would suggest that our approach is very much in accord with the activities outlined in document CL 86/2 and complements the Task Force Report. We think the crisis in the drought-stricken countries in Africa is so serious that it is legitimate to call upon FAO to plan and fund such rehabilitation mission by redeploying and redirecting its existing resources rather than waiting till the next biennium.

In this regard we are again very pleased to hear the Director-General indicate that $ 5 million has been put aside to help with rehabilitation.

We consider it is very important faced with a crisis of this magnitude to demonstrate to the public that we are capable of adjusting our priorities and directing scarce resources to the most important of objectives. We welcome the tone of the Director-General’s speech and his very speedy action to redeploy and redirect FAO’s resources to the problem of Africa. In commending to you the proposals by the Director General, I would like to ask you to put this in a historic context in terms of our assistance to Africa. Africa and the problems of African agriculture are going to dominate us until the end of this century, and it is perhaps wise at this point to consider how history will judge us. Over ten years ago the distinguished British scientist and author C.P. Snow suggested that what we would see in the latter part of the twentieth century would be a society, a world in which the people who were fed watched the people who were starving on their television sets. I suggest to you here that this is something that we cannot let happen. It would be inconceivable to future generations that we allowed this to occur, and it is in this sense that I speak in support of the Director-General’ comments and also commend us all to consider these problems extremly seriously.